The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) continued its bullish momentum, closing the trading day with a substantial rally that added ₦1.18 trillion to investors’ portfolios. The All-Share Index and total market capitalization reached historic peaks, fueled by heightened interest in major blue-chip stocks.
Market activity surged as the year-to-date return hit 13.47%, with institutional investors aggressively targeting value opportunities in large-cap and mid-tier equities. The robust rally reversed recent losses, according to stockbrokers who attributed the trend to strong earnings sentiment and renewed investor confidence.
Heavyweights like MTN Nigeria (+4.79%) led the charge, along with renewed buying pressure on energy-related stocks such as SEPLAT (+9.78%), TRANSPOWER (+8.22%), and ARADEL (+7.36%). These movements pushed the benchmark index up by 1.63%, closing at 116,786.87 points, while the market capitalization climbed to ₦73.68 trillion.
Banking equities also recorded a resurgence after recent concerns over regulatory limits eased. GTCO (+4.43%), ZENITHBANK (+5.32%), UBA (+5.59%), and ACCESSCORP (+4.49%) all posted gains amid favorable market sentiment.
Total market turnover showed mixed signals, with trade volume dropping 18.70% while transaction value rose 1.34%. Data from Atlass Portfolios Limited indicated that 640.08 million shares worth ₦26.01 billion were exchanged across 19,727 transactions.
ZENITHBANK led in both volume and value terms, accounting for 23.44% of total trades and 27.70% of value. Other heavily traded stocks included ACCESSCORP, UBA, NB, and FIDELITYBK.
On the winners’ chart, NEM gained 10.00%, followed closely by BETAGLAS (+9.99%), THOMASWY (+9.73%), and REGALINS (+8.62%). However, 29 stocks closed lower, with ETERNA suffering a 10.00% decline. Others like LEGENDINT and IKEJAHOTEL also posted losses.
The broader market saw 37 gainers against 29 losers, resulting in a positive market breadth. Sector-wise, Oil & Gas (+7.49%), Commodities (+5.63%), Banking (+3.25%), and Insurance (+2.02%) outperformed. Industrial Goods eked out a 0.09% rise, while Consumer Goods slid by 0.16% due to pressure on NB shares (-1.19%).